Hiking on Mount Saint Helens

Tuesday

Mar 21, 2017 at 12:01 AMMar 21, 2017 at 7:01 PM

Dawny G

At last! The hikes we've taken have been beautiful, and always, in the back of my mind, was the knowledge that this is an active volcano zone. But it's one thing to know that this mountain *could* erupt, even though it's quiet and tranquil now. When you're on Mt. Hood, you can easily forget it's a volcano.

It's another thing to witness the devastation left by a volcano that erupted in my lifetime...that still emits poofs of gas from deep within, that is still monitored and still active.

Before and After

This is a photo of Mount Saint Helens before the 1980 eruption (https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2002/of02-468/ )

and after.Mt. St. Helens from Spirit LakeThe eruption blew off one quarter mile (1300 feet) of the mountain's peak, leaving a one-mile wide crater behind. The violent explosion raised the air temperature in the area to over 800 °F and blew out the east side of the volcano, destroying old growth forest, choking streams with ash and debris.

This photo from History.com, which I used earlier in this trip blog, shows Mt. St. Helens erupting on May 18, 1980.

And that is where we are going today. We pack a picnic lunch and drive two-and-a-half hours to Windy Ridge, going through the blast zone, passing logs five feet in diameter. Yes, the logs were five feet wide... try and imagine how tall the original trees were. Those majestic trees tumbled like dried twigs in the volcano's blast.

From Windy Ridge, 4,170 feet high, we look down on the blue waters of Spirit Lake. Activity here is restricted as scientists continue to study and monitor the volcano.

Spirit Lake--- dead trees blown off the mountainThe eruption-induced avalanche of 1980 was massive, one of the largest landslides of the modern era. It raised the Spirit Lake water level by 200 feet (that's about the height of a twenty-story building). Trees blown into the lake now form an 'island' in the brilliant blue waters.

As I view the area around the lake, I'm struck by the scorched remains of trees that stand out amidst the ashes. I'm even more impressed by the vegetation battling its way out of the cinders to begin repopulating the hillside.